Baby Birthday Bash Sponsor Spotlight: Lotus Bumz

What would a Baby Birthday Bash be without some fluffy goodness?! I know one of my favorite things about being the mama of 2 babies is cloth-diapering. While we started doing so out of necessity, I have become a total cloth-diaper addict! With all of the vibrant colors, fun prints, and soft fabrics, can you blame me? There's nothing cuter than a little one with a fluffy butt, in my humble opinion.

Aside from being stinking adorable, another great reason to cloth-diaper is its impact on the environment. With the Earth's landfills overflowing, choosing cloth can make a huge reduction in waste. After all, it can take up to 500 YEARS for a disposable diaper to biodegrade. That's right. 500 years! Imagine how many billions of diapers are sitting in landfills around the world...This number grows and grows every single day. Not to mention all of the chemicals found in disposables that are now finding their way into our soil and water supplies. Pretty gross, huh?

Speaking of chemicals, cloth-diapers don't contain any. This is another great reason to make the switch! Many babies have gotten horrible rashes from the chemicals found in disposable diapers. With cloth, babies actually get less rashes, since their delicate skin isn't exposed to any harsh chemicals, fragrances or dyes. As a matter of fact, the only time my babies have gotten rashes with cloth is when my bonehead husband did the diaper laundry wrong, using WAY too much detergent, several times in a row. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, and I finally figured it out when he told me he was using a whole scoop of detergent, sometimes more! This can actually cause the diapers to not rinse clean fully, due to a detergent build-up. This can create rashes, nasty odors, and general funk. Needless to say, he is no longer in charge of washing our diapers. (Although it sure was nice of him to offer!)

Anyway, there are obviously a ton of great reasons to consider cloth-diapering. One of the things that tends to scare people off is the initial cost of cloth. Many, many diapers cost $20 each or more! For a family watching their finances, this can be a major problem. However, there are affordable options available. You just need to know where to look for them!

I'd like to introduce you to my next sponsor for the Baby Birthday Bash! Lotus Bumz is a great online retailer that specializes in making cloth-diapering easy and affordable for everyone! Lotus Bumz carries a large selection of pocket diapers in a ton of fun colors and prints sure to make your baby the cutest tot on the block. They also carry wet bags and extra inserts, making them a one-stop shop for all of your fluffy needs. One of the things I like best about Lotus Bumz is that they even offer bundle packages to help you save even more. You can choose 3-packs, 12-packs, or even a massive 24-pack of diapers! (For cloth newbies, 24 diapers would be enough to build an entire stash, as long as you do laundry every couple of days!)

---

The awesome folks at Lotus Bumz sent me an adorable pocket diaper in their Blue Funky Monkey print to review and test on my toddlers. First of all, I LOVE monkeys, so this was such a nice surprise! When my diaper arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it is well-constructed and the outer fabric is silky and soft. The colors are vibrant and fun, too! The inner portion of the diaper is very soft, and comes with a microfiber insert for stuffing. These diapers do not require a cover, as they include a hidden layer of waterproof PUL.

The nice thing about these diapers is that they are OS (one size) and can easily be adjusted to fit babies from about 9lbs up to around 30lbs. Exact weights will of course depend on your baby's build. Adjusting the size is as simple as snapping it down to adjust the rise.
Take a look!

I just love the fun print and bright colors!

The back of the diaper

The insert on top of the diaper. Of course you'll want to stuff it in the pocket. I just wanted to show the size.

The inner of the diaper is super soft against baby's skin!

Here's the diaper snapped down to fit even the tiniest of babies!

How cute is that?! This is a very nice, basic pocket-style diaper. The quality is very good, especially considering the budget-friendly price, and I was eager to try it out on my little monsters. How did it perform? I tested this diaper on both of my toddlers during the day as well as overnight. Let's see how it did!

TEST BABY 1:
Sophia, 2 years old
28lbs

I first tested my Lotus Bumz pocket diaper during the day. Sophie is a very, very active toddler and is always running, climbing, jumping and going nuts. She actually gives the playful monkey featured on the diaper a run for his money! While I love my daughter's rambunctious nature, it has been a problem before with her diapers. You see, she tends to get "wedgies" sometimes when she climbs, and this has caused minor leaks. Thankfully, this doesn't happen often and is usually avoided by choosing a diaper that fits well. Luckily, the Lotus Bunz diaper fits her very well and stayed in place while she did her usual Tazmanian Devil routine. No leaks during the day, and the diaper didn't leave any uncomfortable red marks on her little thighs. Daytime? Success!

Night time is a little trickier for my Sophie. She tends to be a heavy wetter. So I opted to use 2 microfiber inserts in the diaper rather than 1. I have found that this is necessary no matter what diaper I use on her at night. So we did our usual bedtime routine and Sophie had her sippy full of milk and a nice warm bath. Then I put the Lotus Bumz pocket diaper on her, got her in her PJ's and put her to bed. In the morning, I noticed that her clothing was dry. This is always a good sign! The outside of the diaper was dry, too! No leaks! I did notice that around the leg-openings there was slight dampness, but this is not at all uncommon with Sophie. What matters is that it didn't make its way onto her clothing. This diaper did a pretty good job keeping wetness in the diaper, even with a very heavy wetter! I would definitely recommend using an additional insert, though.

---

TEST BABY 2:
Xander, 1 year old
20lbs

We call our 1 year old Xander the "Poop-Monster". And for good reason! He poops a lot. And it's not normal poop, either. Oh no. Not my little man! When he goes it's a stinky, sticky mess! One that often creeps its way outside of his diapers, usually up the back or out of the leg openings. (Yuck!)

I tested the Lotus Bumz diaper on him during the day first, just as I did with Sophia. Xander is pretty active, too, as you can see from the fact that he is trying to climb onto the coffee table! I got a great fit using this diaper, and snapped it down one size smaller than Sophia's setting. Xander weighs just about 20lbs and the middle setting fit him perfectly. I let him do his thing and a couple of hours later, went to change him because I smelled something "funny". He did poop, and it was gross, but it remained inside of the diaper! The waist and legs of this diaper fit him very well and help in the mess beautifully. It also rinsed very easily using my sprayer. This diaper definitely impressed me during the day!

I also tested this diaper at night on my little man. Since he's a boy, he tends to wet in the front. I did opt to use an additional insert again, like I always do for overnight use. When we put Xander to bed, he had just had his bath and a cup of milk. Now Xander doesn't have the heavy-wetting habits his big sister does, so I was fairly confident that we would have no leakage. The thing I was worried about were night time poops. Xander seems to always go in his sleep and most mornings, he wakes up in a soiled diaper. This was no exception! While he did make a big mess in his diaper, it stayed in the diaper. (Whew!) I love the fit of this diaper, as I can adjust it to be snug enough to keep everything in. Overnight use with the "Poop-Monster"? Success!

---

Overall, I am quite impressed by the pocket diapers from Lotus Bumz. They are affordable, cute, and definitely keep messes contained. The only thing I might change? I'd LOVE to see double leg-gussets on future models. Now these aren't necessary, but I have found that they're nice to have with a baby that poops a lot. Even without this feature, the Lotus Bumz diaper performed extremely well. I would definitely recommend these to anyone who wants to build up their stash without breaking the bank. For new or expecting parents, I would look into their package deals. This can save a ton of money and give you an entire supply of diapers for a fraction of what you might expect to pay elsewhere! And with so many fun colors and prints available, you can get a diaper to match any outfit! Yes...I am guilty of basing an entire outfit around which diaper my kids happen to be wearing. I'm a dork like that! Anyway, definitely check out Lotus Bumz. They offer a wonderful basic pocket-style diaper, and I am sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by the quality!

BUY IT:

You can check out the awesomeness that is Lotus Bumz on their website.

Orders over $79.00 get FREE SHIPPING!

While you're there, be sure to sign up for their newsletter! This can be found on their right side bar!

You can also check them out on Facebook and on twitter to stay on top of their latest products and promotions!

Doing so NOW will put you ahead of the game once the event begins!

WIN IT! But not yet.....

I am thrilled to announce that Lotus Bumz will be offering one lucky reader their choice of in-stock diaper during the Baby Birthday Bash! How cool is that?! So be sure to follow them on Facebook and twitter and sign up for their newsletter, and then come back on the 17th for your chance to WIN my HUGE prize package!


***Disclosure: I received a complimentary sample to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***